Obviously, all major software companies are competing hard and trying to ensure the biggest chunk of holy market share possible for themselves.
However, this mad run for domination is often leading to wrong business decisions and this could be the case for Microsoft which is going ahead first in an attempt to deliver its well-known products over the Internet and also to promote a set of software for business.

Microsoft is taking action as a result of the more active presence of very young companies such as Salesforce.com Inc. and NetSuite Inc, which offer businesses Internet-based applications for tracking customer relationships and managing back-office functions.
This could lead the software giant to a big business mistake, because changing directions, as it plans to do, could be the end of a very successful business model, which pushed Microsoft into where it is today.
Bill Gates and his staff are willing to take the chance and try a more direct response to the stepped-up pressure from rivals Google and Yahoo.

Experts don't agree that this change of direction is the best move for Microsoft to step-up to rivals that offer online alternatives of successful Microsoft products, such as Google helping out the OpenOffice project.
Most likely, the end result of these maneuvers will depend on just how far the company wants to go on the online path.